About
NWB
BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN
... and beyond
MISSION:
NWB works to build and sustain meaningful relationships that further community collaborations and works towards housing justice for all through education, cross cultural dialogues, and direct political action in Bushwick and beyond.
North West Bushwick is an inclusive Community Group advocating a diversity of tactics to address local concerns & meet Community needs.
We look to civic channels that are participatory and advocate for policy and resources responsive to actual local community need before private capital gain. We seek to foster and support development and change in Bushwick that is responsive to the local long term residents and business.
We look to facilitate the Communities' organizational and action oriented goals. We seek non-speculative development that serves local needs. We seek a Community Land Trust in Bushwick; a network of Community owned land governed by the Community itself.
All skills. resources, & Bushwick minds are encouraged to contribute, to shape Our work.
Story:
Bushwick Residents were invited by CM Reyna to attend a September 3rd, 2013 Town Hall meeting at PS120 to inform & address the proposed Residential Development at Rheingold Properties. The attending Community response was clear and direct in it's articulation of local needs & concerns around the Read Proposal at Rheingold. Neighbors convened after the Town Hall and again voiced communal concern. A subsequent Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Rheingold Rezoning brought local neighbors together again in their expression of concern over land use in Our Bushwick.
The North West Bushwick Community Group was formed and began regular Monday Community Meetings in a variety of (mostly) Art & Music venues around Bushwick. The Group was diverse in backgrounds & views while strong & unified in articulations & support of communal needs. This powerful group organized quickly and efficiently and has begun productive communications with local Non-Profits & elected officials. NWB Community Group looks to continue and expand our role in conversations that effect us as residents.
(flyer by Sarah Quinter)
NWB attending Community Board 4 Meetings
North West Bushwick/Neighbors Without Borders is a Community Group begun in reaction to the Rheingold Rezoning in Bushwick in 2013. New and old residents came together to form a group that would advocate against the displacement of Bushwick's longtime working-class residents and for accountability from developers. We work in solidarity with other local groups and community members that are committed to standing against economic injustice and cultural erosion; we take direct political action to combat these corporate agendas.
Rheingold Campaign
Rheingold Rezoning:
Bushwick Residents were invited by CM Reyna to attend a September 3rd, 2013 Town Hall meeting at PS120 to inform & address the proposed Residential Development at Rheingold Properties. The attending Community response was clear and direct in it's articulation of local needs & concerns around the Read Proposal at Rheingold. Neighbors convened after the Town Hall and again voiced communal concern. A subsequent Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Rheingold Rezoning brought local neighbors together again in their expression of concern over land use in Our Bushwick. These neighbors again coalesced in opposition to the Rheingold Rezoning at the Community Board 4 public meeting.
The North West Bushwick Community Group was formed and began regular Monday Community Meetings in a variety of (mostly) Art & Music venues around Bushwick. The Group was diverse in backgrounds & views while strong & unified in articulations & support of communal needs. This powerful group organized quickly and efficiently and has begun productive communications with local Non-Profits & elected officials. NWB members spoke again in public forum at the City Council Public Hearing regarding the Rheingold Rezoning and voiced their opposition to the plan with an alternative vision for the Rezoning.
Early in it's formation, NWB was most specifically working on outreach around ways voices could be raised during the remainder of the Read Property ULURP at the former Rheingold Brewery Site. NWB's advocacy for community Involvement in the ULURP resulted in the Council Member Reyna's formation of the Rheingold Advisory Panel. NWB's communication with Read Properties through this panel directly informed negotiations. NWB is proud to have contributed to securing a more just plan for Bushwick as Read profits in Our newly rezoned Community.
NWB's involvement in the Rheingold Advisory Panel process has enriched Bushwick with housing & land-use knowledge; a valuable resource as we prepare for future ULURPS. This rezoning process and resulting effects on housing, long term communities, vulnerable populations, local economies, infrastructure and our environment are of concern of NWB.
Document of Compiled NWB Statements Regarding Rheingold Rezoning
12/11/2013
Press Release From CouncilWoman Diana Reyna's Office:
IMPORTANT NEWS
Press Release From CM Reyna:
RHEINGOLD REZONING RECEIVES CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL
Remaining land once owned by Rheingold Brewery in Bushwick, Brooklyn has been rezoned to include a mix of residential, commercial, and light manufacturing
BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN � December 11th, 2013 � A private ULURP application was approved yesterday by the City Council. Submitted by Read Property Group, owners of the remaining Rheingold Brewery properties, the ULURP proposal rezones six vacant blocks generally encompassed by Flushing and Bushwick Avenues in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
After several months of community engagement and deliberation, the application was voted out of the City Council Land Use committee and then approved by the full body yesterday afternoon. Read Property Group had previously secured approvals from Community Board 4, Borough President Markowitz, and the City Planning Commission during the application�s public review process.
�It is not without significant discussion and analysis that I moved to approve this rezoning. Few communities know the impact of unchecked development better than my own. However this rezoning, thanks to the ongoing collaboration of Read Property Group and community stakeholders, is a terrific example of development that is fair and accountable to the people. Over months of community meetings, Read has demonstrated that they are committed to responsible development, comprehensive planning, and community engagement. I am pleased to report that the Rheingold rezoning will provide my community with:
� Affordable housing that will make up 30% of the total market-rate units being built;
� The transfer of seven lots to a local non-profit for the development of affordable housing;
� Affordable units built by Read will be both integrated and permanently affordable at an average of 60% AMI;
� Local hiring for both construction and building maintenance;
� $75,000 to workforce development training for local construction jobs;
� A commitment to have 20% of construction contracts go to M/WBE and LBE firms;
� $360,000 to the neighboring elementary schools, P.S. 120 and P.S. 145, for computer lab upgrades and urban gardening initiatives;
� $350,000 for improvement to Green Central Knoll Park;
� The creation of over 17,000 sq. ft. in public green space;
� $250,000 to a legal non-profit providing tenant assistance in Bushwick;
� $150,000 for supportive services to the affordable units;
� $50,000 to assist with programming in a community facility to be located on the property;
� A commitment to not build a hotel on the manufacturing zoned land for fifteen years;
� The mapping of two additional streets;
� Commitments to provide community parking preferences and to mitigate truck traffic on residential streets, and;
� The creation of a community advisory panel to oversee the implementation of the above commitments.
I want to thank the robust coalition that formed to ensure our community would benefit from this land use action. I also thank Read Property Group for maintaining an honest and open dialogue throughout this process,� said Council Member Diana Reyna.
�Reaching the community goal of 30% affordability on the project was a high priority. Bridging the gap between the affordability proposed by Read group through the creation of Senior Housing on land transferred from the developer to the community is the first of its kind. This is a new type of solution that we are very excited about,� said Rob Solano Executive Director Churches United for Fair Housing.
"Once again, Councilmember Reyna is to be commended for bringing the community and developer together and guiding the community in the process to secure a commitment and a guarantee that will bring forth many opportunities for residents including local employment opportunities and much needed affordable housing for our most vulnerable our seniors,� said Jose Leon, Deputy Executive Director, St. Nicks Alliance.
�We acknowledge the great leadership of Council Member Diana Reyna in this historic moment. She will leave behind a legacy for the most needy, and the agreements that have been brokered establish a new template for private-public collaboration,� said Ramon Peguero, Executive Director of Southside United HDFC � Los Sures.
�We are happy with the outcome of the rezoning, especially the 30% affordable housing component,� said Nadine Whitted, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 4.
�North West Bushwick Community Group is happy to have been an active voice and advocate for local community needs and concerns in the Read property ULURP application at Rheingold. We thank CM Reyna for her hard work and diligence in securing terms that meet many real local needs. While not all NWB terms were met we are happy for many of the mitigations Read has committed to as their massive residential development impacts our community. Through CM Reyna's creation of the Rheingold Advisory Panel and through NWBs involvement in this Panel process we have become a community of residents' richer in local land use and housing knowledge,� said Brigette Blood for the North West Bushwick Community Group
5/21/14
NWB STATEMENT at CB4 following ULURP approval at CC. Statement read by Brigette Blood.
> In an attempt to be a good neighbor I'd like to share some of what we learned during this ULURP. You may already know all this, many of us did not.
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> An 11 year resident of Bushwick and a Member of North West Bushwick Community Group I am thankful for the rich understanding of development, public processes, and local needs I was privileged to gain through engagement in the Rheingold ULURP.
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> This is a flawed public process that requires all of our sustained engagement. We hold that development and changes to our landscape must serve local residents and benefit the community first. The community's need, will and the environment should be primary considerations.
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> The ULURP process is alienating for all. Even the most community minded of residents. It is my understanding that developers skillfully negotiate this alienating process to extract the most profit from the public's resources.
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> This flawed process determines the future of our landscape, industry, our commons, and our quality of life while impacting the security & affordability of our housing stock. This process requires Community engagement throughout.
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> We see a serious need for wider community education and engagement around these issues; especially amongst unaffiliated and non-institutionalized residents.
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> After NWB held numerous public meetings on Rheingold, a workshop on developwment without displacement, and a memorable visit (here) to CB4, where we made a vocal outcry for Community inclusion in this Rheingold ULURP, an Advisory panel was formed and NWB was offered seats.
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> NWB was able to rapidly pull from a larger network of concerned housing activists, educators, students, and neighbors to build our own capacity for understanding and engaging in ULURP.
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> We implore our local government to empower local residents, build community agency and provide clear opportunity for impactful community participation.
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> With much continued outreach and education around land use and housing we developed community-based and pragmatic alternative visions and proposals for land and development in Bushwick.
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> Our NWB work prioritized binding assurances from the developer to deliver on negotiated terms and affordable units; we also sought to prioritize actual local need, the commons, industry and the environment.
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> Ultimately, NWB generated proposals that went beyond the legal requirements of the developer. We see these alternative proposals as genuine mitigations of luxury impact. These community based proposals were largely marginalized in the ULURP process and final negotiations.
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> We see this as symbolic of the failures of the ULURP process, which falsely present as community benefits or welcome upgrades the minimum legal requirements developers must provide in order to receive tax breaks and change our zoning.
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> We, as a community, should ask ourselves what would it mean for us to benefit from large scale luxury development? and what does it mean to loose industrial space?
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> Making bushwick safe for luxury development does not serves local need and threatens long standing communities.
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> The community has every right to require more from the developer who needs our approval and who profits off our vulnerability. I urge you to continue to require more for Bushwick. Our community will be gravely altered and impacted. Our landscape and communities forever changed by this development.
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> Some of us are more vulnerable than others in negotiating these changes and I hope Bushwick can prepare together and seek development and policy which make room for all those planning to stay.
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> 30% affordable units still means 70% luxury units and the market forces that go with them. Not to mention that the affordable units are way out of reach for many of us.
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> Creating market rate and above market rate development in low income neighborhoods brings with it many negative impacts for longstanding residents. This type of rezoning and luxury development must hold developers accountable to their true impact. Currently this ULURP process and this development fail us.
See VIDEOS & PRESS pages for more details on NWB work.
Bushwick Community Map
BETA LAUNCH 8/19/14-
www.bushwickcommunitymap.org
The Bushwick Community Map and Data Base Project are a product of North West Bushwick Community Group's partnership with Michael Ziggy Mintz. The Community Group's call for data and resources to be accessible in a targeted and refined way lead to this project's undertaking and continued development.
Bushwick residents active in NWB felt caught off guard and underprepared to engage in complex discussions and decisions around land use and housing. At the same time NWB and local Residents desired to organize targeted campaigns and pragmatic structures in opposition to the unwelcome market pressures and displacement in our community.
NWB's engagement in ULURP and investigation of Bushwick's housing climate lead us to understand a need to track our housing stock and land use changes. We desire to identify, map, and gauge our housing/land use vulnerabilities and our strengths.
Our NWB working goals include empowering community through targeted access to information, engaging residents in public processes, and to provide tools for communities advocating for local need in development conversations. We look to the potential for participatory data sets to further engage community and track changes public data does not currently successfully record.
The Bushwick Community Map is an interactive & participatory mapping project organized by North West Bushwick Community Group. The Map will provide local residents and community organizers with housing and urban planning data on their homes, properties, and neighborhood.
It will help track the changes happening in Bushwick, particularly the urban vices of gentrification and displacement. The map will contribute to the public knowledge by educating community members on the often obfuscating process and vocabulary of urban planning and development. While providing contextual understanding and links to possible resources.
History of Public Events
Public Events, Workshops, Educational Opportunities and Info Sharing are central to NWB work and our desire to spread communication and understanding around complex issues while building and supporting community.
NWB has hosted various events, participated in and supported many Community initiatives. NWB holds regular Community Meetings; a consistent forum for local conversation and action. Direct communication and communal experience among all neighbors in Bushwick is essential in order to stem gentrification with alternative power structures, civic engagement and participation of community voice. By conversing with one another at regular events, we ensure Bushwick has a say in our future!
On Tuesday, November 3, 2015 NWB participated with the Rheingold Community Coalition to deliver a letter to Yoel Goldman, the new owner of part of the Rheingold property to be developed in Bushwick, demanding the affordable housing and other commitments promised to the community by the previous developer, Read Group.
More information: RheingoldWatch.org
On Thursday night, July 30th, at least 200 hundred Bushwick residents gathered for a Town Hall style meeting at The Cathedral of Joy (43 George Street) to learn about the Rheingold rezoning, Community involvement in the rezoning process, and Simon Dushinsky/Rabsy Group's development plans for the Rheingold site. Following the Town Hall residents Marched in the streets and Rallied in front of The Rabsky site on Bushwick Avenue and Monteith Street. Throughout the Town Hall, March and Rally Bushwick residents rose a loud and clear voice to oppose development which does not include truly affordable housing and to oppose development at Rheingold that does not conform with the Community developed mitigations and agreed upon terms.
Following the Rally, Bushwick residents made camp and occupied the sidewalk in front of the Simon Dushinsky/Rabsky Group owned property to help bring visibility to this luxury development and the Bushwick Communities' concern for affordable housing. The Rheingold Sleep-In was organized by The Rheingold Construction Committee with logistical support from The Silent Barn.
Well over a dozen residents slept over at the Rabsky site, waking up on Bushwick Avenue Friday morning. The residents participating in this public expression of Civic Engagement and Duration were mostly unaffiliated (not local organization members). The Rheingold Construction Committee were organizers and participants in the Civic Sleep-In Action. In addition to those residents who stayed all night, dozens more local Community members stayed in front of Mr. Dushinsky's new property until the early Friday morning hours. Those who spent the night with their neighbors on Bushwick Avenue collectively reclaimed our Public space and made visible our communities' serious Affordable Housing needs and our collective Civic power.
See the Town Hall Facebook Page for videos and images from the Town Hall and subsequent Sleep-In:
https://www.facebook.com/events/113882492286020/123732577967678/
THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE HOSTS: A Bushwick Town Hall & Community Action
The Rheingold Rezoning was supposed to bring 30% affordable housing to local Bushwick residents. Simon Dushinsky, who is developing a large part of Rheingold, refuses to acknowledge or commit to following through with building our affordable homes.
After many long months of trying to get a straight forward agreement from Mr. Dushinsky The Rheingold Construction Committee is not going to keep quietly waiting any more. Dushinsky has filed plans with the city that do not indicate the agreed upon affordable homes will be built in Bushwick. We (The RCC) have made plans for ACTION!
WE expect all commitments to the Bushwick Community be fulfilled at the Rheingold Site.
Bushwick demands Accountable Development!
Bushwick demands all ULURP/REZONING commitments are delivered!
Bushwick demands affordable housing at Rheingold!
Bushwick Demands Jobs for our community on the Rheingold construction site!
Bushwick demands Rabsky Group/Simon Dushinsky sign a letter of agreement to deliver on all standing commitments to the Bushwick Community!
THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE INCLUDES/EL COMITÉ DE CONSTRUCCION DE RHEINGOLD INCLUYE:
North West Bushwick Community Group
Brooklyn Legal Services Corp A
St. Nicks Alliance- Workforce Development
Community Board 4 (Bushwick)
Los Sures Southside United
Churches United For Fair Housing
Evergreen Exchange
Catholic Migration Services
Rabsky Group is the new part owner of the rezoned Rheingold site. When Rabsky bought this land from Read Properties there were a number of standing commitments with the Bushwick Community on what would be developed on that land in exchange for a rezoning. The Rheingold Construction Committee has been actively following up with both Read & Rabsky to ensure the Bushwick Community receives the affordable housing and local jobs we were promised.
The Rheingold Construction Committee has repeatedly requested a signed letter of commitment from Rabsky Group to ensure that our Community receives the affordable housing, jobs and other agreed upon terms of the rezoning as promised.
JOIN THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE AS WE DELIVER THESE COMMITMENT DEMANDS IN PERSON .
LET RABSKY GROUP KNOW BUSHWICK DEMANDS AND DESERVES ALL COMMITMENTS AS PROMISED THROUGH THE REHINGOLD REZONING
Rabsky Group WE expect all commitments to the Bushwick Community be fulfilled at the Rheingold Site.
Bushwick Demands Accountable Development!
Bushwick demands all ULURP commitments are delivered!
Bushwick demands affordable housing at Rheingold!
Bushwick Demands Jobs for our community on the Rheingold construction site!
Bushwick demands Rabsky Group/Simon Dushinsky sign a letter of agreement to deliver on all standing commitments to the Bushwick Community!
THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE INCLUDES-
North West Bushwick Community Group
Brooklyn Legal Services Corp A
St. Nicks Alliance- Workforce Development
Community Board 4 (Bushwick)
Los Sures Southside United
Churches United For Fair Housing
Evergreen Exchange
Catholic Migration Services
https://www.facebook.com/events/482026765289061/
ACABO rally's in Mara Hernandez Park
(Photo By: Bianca Perez)
ACABO convened at The Silent Barn to make posters and banners for upcoming TENANTS RIGHTS/NO BUY OUTS! rallys
North West Bushwick Community Group warmly invites you to join your neighbors as we collectively envision and organize a plan for a Community Visibility Action. An Action in our local neighborhood to highlight our community's campaign for Community power and Housing stability, and to ensure Read Property Group follows through with the commitments made to the people of Bushwick.
As Bushwick continues to struggle with housing stability and as developers race to build luxury developments here; this is a crucial time to re-voice community concerns and vulnerabilities while expanding awareness and connecting some of the forces of gentrification to place and people in our local community.
We invite you to help in making publicly visible the very real issues with Development in Bushwick- people struggling to stay in their homes due to landlord pressures and rising rents, developers unaccountable to communities, policies that leave our community vulnerable. Let�s unite in a public call for housing justice in Bushwick!
Through our work in the North Brooklyn Anti-Displacement Task Force Collaborative (Allied Communitues Against Buy Outs)- NWB was proud to help bring this educational opportunity to our Community
At this gathering our Williamsburg Neighbors from Neighbors Allied for Good Growth shared with the NWB & Bushwick Community some of their group experience during Williamsburg's own Community Based Rezoning Process and the ongoing resulting impacts. NAG shared some successes, failures, strategies, and surprises from this public process, their rezoning engagement, and their coalition building efforts.
As Bushwick enters the initial phases of our own Community Based Rezoning Process we are grateful for this neighborly, informative and important resource sharing opportunity. This iwas an important time to enrich our capacities, build Grass Roots Alliances and further the narratives of people, land use, and social justice campaigns in our Communities.
Story Share Generously Hosted by MAYDAY SPACE
Thank you to all who participated in the NWB, New School, St. Joseph's, & Silent Barn Event: Participatory Mapping & A Right To Housing Workshop. This event was full of learning, surprises, sharing, and care. All who participated were generous in their contribbutions. The collective respect for the work was powerful.
A Right to Housing, a gazette developed by students from the Design and Urban Ecologies Graduate Program (The New Shcool), has been envisioned as a tool to inform community members about the housing condition (and crisis) in New York City, and to propose community-based strategies to generate development without displacement in districts as Bushwick.
At the 9/28 workshop (hosted by St. Joseph's Church at The Scalabrini Center For Migrant Families) attendees received A Right to Housing gazette. The 48 page publication illustrates some of the changes in the district, as well as relevant information about Bushwick, including a vacancy survey! This mapping exercise documented all the vacancies of the district in the spring 2013. Since then some of these properties have been sold, developed, rehabilitated or demolished. In order to track these changes a NWB hosted participatory mapping project developed by the New School Graduate Students.
We mapped Bushwick over two beautiful Sundays (9/28 & 10/5). Following the A Right To Housing Workshop we had a great Community conversation about housing, vacant property and the effects of Housing Policy in our Community.
After the Participatory Mapping we gathered for cold drinks and conversation at The Silent Barn, a local art, music, and community Space.
North West Bushwick Community Group works to support the visibility of Displacement in our Communities and City. We were proud to continue this aspect of our work through participation in, and marching with, The People's Climate March: Housing & Displacement Contingent on September 21, 2014.
NWB worked with the Housing & Displacement Contingent along with many other individuals and groups from the housing justice movement. Right to the City, Braden Crooks, & Joal Stein were major organizational leaders of this PCM Contingent.
The Contingent collectively made beautiful & powerful banners, art, and prop tents for the People�s Climate March.
The Contingent is representative of some of the front line communities whose homes and communities are threatened and made vulnerable by unjust climate change.
We Marched to make Displacement a more visible issue and to highlight the connections between Climate Justice & Housing Justice.
"Rising Tides, Rising Rents, Rising People!"
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50109/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1296122
The NWB Data Beta Launch on 8/19 was an incredibly rewarding, vibrant, and diverse gathering of community leaders, creative minds, and housing justice workers.
At our launch The Bushwick Community Map (created by Michael "Ziggy" Mintz) was shared with all attendees. We discussed some of the exciting aspects of the project and some potential developments of the tool.
Contrasting typical 'tech start-up' style, we want this project to be born out of the visions of those actually on the ground, experiencing the needs of local residents and housing justice organizations day in and day out.
Many of you may be wondering what's next for this project and how to get involved. We will be in touch as we receive feedback and regroup to organize next meetings and steps. We look forward to individual and group feedback meetings as this project progresses.
NWB looks forward to communally developing a TBD Targeted Campaign for Housing Justice while providing educational & actionable information to individuals & organizers also engaged in this fight.
NWB is deeply grateful to have had such an excellent turnout of people and ideas on 8/19 and to everyone for their continued interest and support of this project.
Thanks as well to Brooklyn Soda Works, Hops & Hocks, and Tito's Vodka for donating the delicious soft drinks and alcoholic elixirs that undoubtedly made the event and following conversation even more refreshing.
The NWB Mapping Project Team!
NWB hosted an Educational Workshop on Zoning. Kevin Worthington & Lacey Tauber from CM Reynoso's office joined NWB to facilitate. This was great opportunity to develop a deep understanding of technical aspects of zoning and it's influence on NYC and LOCAL housing. The Center For Urban Pedagogy developed workshop takes the form of a fun interactive board game. This learning is valuable in developing our community fluency around issues of land use, housing, and many of the forces of change we see in our community. No prior zoning experience or knowledge was required.
(photo Brooklyn Brief, Taub)
Arts in Bushwick held its annual Community Day during Bushwick Open Studios on 5/31. NWB had a table at the event in Maria Hernandez Park. We had a large format mapping ID activity and an arts and crafts project for kids to help envision our neighborhood. As well as ULURP info and bike maps. It was a beautiful breezy day in the park and with the help of neighbors we strung together a beautiful and colorful city around our NWB tent. It was fun to be in the park with other active local groups. Chaira, Ron, Lolo, Kunal, Lisa and Brigette were all there proudly sharing NWB work with the Community.
NWB members Tres, Brigette, and Matt attended the Rent Guidelines Brooklyn Public Hearing on 6/18. Tres and Brigette testified. Brigette as a Rent Stabilized, personally vulnerable, and concerned resident while Tres spoke powerfully with supportive and considerate forward momentum after listening to hours of speakers on both sides. It was a powerful and charged room; an amazing string of Brooklyn narratives that were strong and deeply resonant with the crowd.
On 6/21 The Silent Barn hosted their annual Stanwix Street block party. The streets were closed and music was played, BBQ and fun were had by the all-ages crowd. There were giant bubbles and a piñata. NWB facilitated a live mural, Graf Piece, to be done on NWB member Matt's van by Educated Little Monsters, a local Art & Performace Youth Group. NWB member Jazz, long term resident, artist, mother, entrepreneur, and Educated Little Monsters Youth Group founder and director coordinated this creative partnership with NWB. This was a really fun afternoon and event that was a nice furthering of our ongoing supportive relationship with ELM and the Silent Barn. We look forward to a continued cooperative partnership for NWB and these two local institutions of the people.
NWB was invited by CUFFH to participate in their local traditional CBO basketball tournament. We quickly managed to put together a formidable team! On 6/28 NWB rose to the challenge thanks to the incredible efforts of team players Lolo, Tres, and Peter! NWB participated in the tournament forming a cooperative team with NAG to play ball like only activists can! The other teams in the tournament included CM Reynoso, CM Mencheca, CW Valazquez, CUFFH, Brooklyn Legal A, Los Sures and other local CBOs. Big shout out to Lolo, Tres, and Peter for playing ball and representing your neighbors!
In a show of solidarity with groups organizing around housing and community empowerment Tres and Brigette attended the Crown Heights Tenants Rally & March on 6/7.
It was well attended and the tenants who spoke at designated stops were powerful and clear in their rights and demands. There were printed chant sheets which were fun and strong. "I believe we will win"- was my favorite. It was a great afternoon. There were individuals from CH and many were members of CHTU but there were also many groups expressing solidarity as well as politicians. Artist and Affordabily Project were really interesting to talk to about working on policy for commercial rent control.
Here isa link with more info on their organization : CHTU
Our District 34 Community Board 4 held its regular monthly meeting on 5/21; there was a presentation and update on Rheingold. CM Reynoso's office, Read Properties, CUFFH, Los Sures,, Brooklyn Legal Corp. A, PS145, St.Nick's Alliance, and EWVDCO shared information on the benefits/mitigations they received or had expertise on.
NWB was given 3 minutes to address Community involvement in the process. We felt it was important to also put the benefits/mitigation in context and address the bleak structural concerns we gleaned from this Rheingold ULURP engagement.
Brigette participated on behalf on the NWB Rheingold Advisory Panelists.
One of our NWB Monday Night Community Meetings at Express Yourself Barista Bar...The espresso inspires!
Visualizing a CLT Workshop by Josh Barndt at Express Yourself Barista Bar,
On 11/30 North West Bushwick Community Group had a NWB Advisory Panel public presentation and conversation hosted by the Silent Barn. At this event we talked about the formation and process of the Panel and the potentially forming Coalition. We also shared with those in attendance our initial Terms for the developer at Rheingold as articulated in North West Bushwick Community Group meetings and as populations, data, and EIS scope mandated or allowed.
The community terms are in negotiations and we look to City Council Member Diana Reyna to advocate for and secure terms in the most binding manner possible.
The NWB Rheingold Advisory Panel looks forward to sharing/discussing the final Terms as voted on by the City Council. We are truly hopeful for future Bushwick organizing and action efforts around housing and land use issues in our Community. Through all of our continued engagement and awareness around the proposed development at Rheingold NWB has become a part of the local Community rich in land use and housing knowledge. We look forward to future exchanges and community artriculations of presence and need around these and other issues.
Mottel, Peperone, Perez with Council Woman Diana Reyna at City Council Hearing on Rheingold Rezoning.
11.12.13 was the City Council Public Hearing on the ULURP application for rezoning & redevelopment at the former Rheingold site in Bushwick. In City Hall there was a great show of Bushwick's strength and a powerful Bushwick voice raised. Unity & resilancy are possible for Bushwick! Yesterday was a beatiful move twoard true Bushwick solidarity.
NWB represented an oppositional voice to this proposal and advocated for a modified plan. We asked for 35% affordable units with the undertsanding that 40% is more reflective of the local Bushwick AMI. We asked for real Bushwick needs to be met, local accesability to affordable housing, innovation & business incubators in the retail space, and ecologocally responsible post~Sandy tactics in all phases of project. We reminded the City Council & the developer that Housing is a Human Right and the requested loss of manufacturing zoning is something Bushwick needs met with proper compensation and consideration. We stated Bushwick welcomes business that meets community needs & goals.
NWB was not the only group in attendance at the Hearing. BEAN and Rheingold Gardens H.O.A. spoke their opposition to the unmitigated proposal. CUFFH arrived in numbers advocating for "at least 30%" affordable units and READ's commitment to working with the organizations present at the hearing to negotiate and follow through with any commitments READ makes with the community to meet our articulated needs & goals. Los Sures spoke strongly & from the heart about realistic community needs. Make the Road NY was large in number, powerful and called for justice.
The voices of those in opposition rang true and clear in city council chambers. We have asked other locally invested organization who've been active in reponse to READs ULURP to meet, formally form a Bushwick Coalition, and draft a CBA/atriculation of community needs & stances as appropriate.
Our North West Bushwick Community group has formed against the Rheingold Rezoning. We have rapidly developed and expanded over the past month. We are working toward a inclusive future for Bushwick where development does not displace. We are striving for participatory design & community based planning.
The initial meeting held by City Councilwoman Reyna's office on September 3rd sparked widespread outrage in our community as it was clear that the developer of the site, the CB4 and the Councilwoman's office had not appropriately informed the public of the development plan. Additionally the CB4 violated open meeting laws when voting to pass this proposal.
Since then, we have had a multitude of Public Community Meetings with a diverse coalition of home owners, eco activists, renters, educators, Urban Planners, and representatives of Reyna, State Senator Dilan and others...
At our last meeting the opportunity to create an ADVISORY PANEL to Reyna was offered by her staff as a way for us to mitigate our concerns. As it stands now, the City Council will have the development proposal for 50 days after the October 23rd City Planning Commission Vote.
We have to meet to nominate, elect and sort our process for this SOON. This is an exciting chance to nominate 5-6 seats on this new ADVISORY PANEL The other seas will be filled by local organization representatives (CUFFH, LOS SURES, St Nick�s ALLIANCE, EWVIDCO, Make the Road NY, PS120 & 145).
October 6th's Development Without Displacement Workshop with The New School, COHSTRA, and BEAN was really incredible. We all feel excited with possibility thinking about these hybrid seeds of thought, change, and power we helped plant in Bushwick through talking and learning about alternative models and affordability. What strong healthy fruit we will communally grow, tend, & share!
Bushwick coming together around issues of development & displacement, learning together & articulating our needs is an encouraging spark twoards a just & inclusionary future. A Rheingold Advisory Panel and educational opportunities like this seem like an interesting and perhaps promising step twoards realizing some of this.
Paper Tiger TV- Adrienne Silverman
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Since its formation in September 2013 NWB has been an active facilitator of Local Organizational Goals. Our Community Meetings and Online resources and forums supported the formation of a number of local resident lead initiatives while contributing and supporting on-going Community Lead Work and organizing. We proudly facilitate partnerships and collaboration between residents and groups.
NWB is looked to as a space for sharing goals and resources while meeting neighbors active or wanting to be active in their community. NWB remains a strong voice and active advocate for local need in land-use, development, affordability, and rezoning conversations.
LINKS TO COMMUNITY PARTNERS & FRIENDS:
Express Yourself Barista Bar
Educated Little Monsters Youth Group
The Bushwick Bridge
Brooklyn Solidarity Network
The Silent Barn
BKROT
The Living Gallery
COHSTRA
Saint Joseph's Church
Community Board 4
Council Person Antonio Reynoso
Bridging Bushwick
The New School- MS Design & Urban Ecologies
NWB PARTNERS:
Press
NWB In the News-
http://greenpointnews.com/2015/08/06/hundreds-turn-out-to-protest-developer-activities-at-rheingold/
Councilman Reynoso Calls for Affordable Housing at Rheingold Brewery Protest
Bushwick Residents Demand Affordable Units In Forthcoming "Playground For Hipsters"
Residents Call for Affordable Housing at Rheingold Brewery
Bushwick residents demand affordable housing
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150623/bushwick/new-rheingold-developer-wont-commit-affordable-units-locals-say
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/06/23/rabsky-is-mia-when-it-comes-to-affordable-housing-at-rheingold-site/
http://brooklynbrief.com/protections-bushwick-tenants-month-month-decade/
http://bkbureau.org/2014/10/16/wary-optimism-greets-de-blasios-brooklyn-redevelopment-plans/
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140925/bushwick/bushwick-workshop-map-where-affordable-housing-could-g
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50109/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1296122
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/realestate/brooklyn-condos-now-in-bushwick.html
http://thelivinggallery.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/meet-brigette-blood/
http://brooklynbrief.com/mosaic-community-groups-seek-alternatives-mass-development/
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/37/19/dtg-broadway-zoning-2014-05-09-bk_37_19.html
http://www.timesnewsweekly.com/news/2014-05-29/Local_News/SERVING_UP_HOUSING.html
http://bushwickdaily.com/2013/11/read-property-presents-rheingold-plan-to-skeptical-audience-at-city-council/
http://bushwickdaily.com/2013/09/city-planning-commission-shocked-by-the-lack-of-community-involvement-at-bushwick-rezoning-public-hearing/
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131211/bushwick/rezoning-of-rheingold-brewery-site-bushwick-approved-by-city-council
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131023/bushwick/controversial-bushwick-rezoning-approved-by-city-planning-commission
http://bushwickdaily.com/2013/09/rheingold-rezoning-saga-continues-at-heated-cb4-meeting-public-meetings/
http://bedfordandbowery.com/2013/12/this-group-wants-to-unite-bushwicks-longtimers-with-actually-whats-a-hipster-anyway/
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/09/20/city-planning-stays-mum-on-shady-bushwick-rezoning-vote/
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130919/bushwick/residents-protest-cb4s-private-illegal-bushwick-rezoning-approval
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131108/bushwick/bushwick-brothers-use-gourmet-coffee-reconcile-new-old-residents
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/36/43/dtg_rheingoldruling_2013_11_01_bk.html
http://thebrooklynink.com/2013/11/20/53329-to-build-or-not-to-build/
http://nycbiznews.journalism.cuny.edu/tag/bushwick/
http://www.citylandnyc.org/council-approved-rheingold-development-with-a-30-percent-affordable-housing-requirement/
http://bushwickdaily.com/2013/10/rheingold-brewery-rezoning-update-community-group-meets-tonight-to-channel-community-concerns/
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/12/02/rheingold-brewery-neighbors-angle-for-deal-with-read/
http://www.bkmag.com/2013/10/24/city-approves-plan-to-turn-bushwicks-former-rheingold-factory-into-condos/
http://bushwickdaily.com/2013/09/public-hearing-regarding-rheingold-brewery-rezoning-is-today/
RHEINGOLD & BUSHWICK NEWS-
http://bushwickdaily.com/2013/08/community-board-4-might-have-approved-rezoning-of-rheingold-brewery-against-the-law/
http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2013/09/closing-bell-city-planning-met-on-rezoning-of-rheingold-brewery-site/
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130821/bushwick/bushwick-pol-investigating-boards-potentially-illegal-rezoning-approval
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130620/bushwick/controversial-bushwick-rezoning-add-high-rises-streets-retail
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/developer-sees-apartments-tap-rheingold-brewery-site-bushwick-article-1.1378671
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/08/illegal_bushwick_rezoning.php
http://www.bkmag.com/BrooklynAbridged/archives/2013/06/21/behold-the-bushwick-of-the-future
http://www.timesnewsweekly.com/news/2013-06-27/Local_News/Building_Big_In_Bushwick.html
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/08/22/bushwick-pol-probes-secret-ok-of-rheingold-brewery-conversion/
http://ny.curbed.com/tags/rheingold-brewery
videos
Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities
Exhibition: November 22, 2014�May 10, 2015
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NYC
COHSTRA- Cohabitation strategies
by Josh Barndt
Regarding Rheingold, 9/18/2013
Paper TigerTV- Adrienne Silverman
